The Baltimore Sun is searching for the most beautiful and creative gardens in the metropolitan area. We'll have our panel of experts select the best small, medium and large gardens. Flower gardens, shade gardens, container gardens and even water gardens will be considered, but they must be designed and tended by amateurs. Winners will be featured in The Sun and will receive a $50 gift card.

To submit your entry, send three to five photos and a 200-word description of your garden by email to homes@baltsun.com or by mail to Baltimore Sun Garden Contest, Features Dept., 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore 21278. Be sure to explain the type and size of garden, its noteworthy features and what inspired you. The deadline for submission is June 7.

Patience, hard work and maybe a touch of eccentricity. Those seem to be the secrets to achieving a winning garden. This year's winners of the Baltimore Sun's annual garden contest showed they had all three. One planted 5-inch arborvitaes and waits patiently for them to grow into a privacy...

When Dale and Christi Schmidt moved to Baltimore from Columbus, Ohio, in 2013, they knew city living was the only way to go. All of the other details, such as the neighborhood and furniture, would eventually fall into place. .

Gardiners Furniture & Mattress, a 73-year-old family-owned retailer based in Baltimore, is being sold to a Pennsylvania-based furniture chain that plans to continue running Gardiners' five stores and distribution center, keeping all 200 of the employees.